A few highlights: I'm a San Francisco Bay Area kid who grew up on the Peninsula and spent her high school years in Chico. I did the 10-year plan to a B.A. (a year of school, a couple of years of work, lather, rinse, repeat) and am still not sure what I want to do when I grow up. Things I like and love include books (I'm a compulsive reader from a family of compulsive readers who love language and etymology), cats, food and cooking, my husband (despite the fact that any compatibility test you can think of would say "these two people should not spend time in the same room together", we're still very much in love more than 16 years after we met), my family, Lake Merritt, Oakland, California, American Zen teacher Cheri Huber's work, urban agriculture, nature, bikes and bicycling (but not lycra), small-scale metalwork and jewelry-making, sewing, knitting, nature, science, music, and movies. I like civil discourse and prefer discussion to argumentation ("but what about this?" instead of "No! you're wrong!" and "I disagree" instead of "you're an idiot").

HSP and INTP = not fond of crowds or loud noises, I'm happiest socializing with friends in small groups somewhere quiet enough that we can hear each other. Thank goodness for the net — it gives me far more social interaction than I'd be able to deal with otherwise.

My father gave me the name "Lexica", albeit 18 years after he and Mom gave me the name that's on my birth certificate.

I hate practical jokes, April Fool's Day is my least favorite day of the year, and I don't do audience participation — don't try. If my mother the theatre director couldn't get me to do it, what makes you think you'll have better luck? I liked her a lot better than I like you.

A note on the whole "friending" issue: I use the "friends" function as a way to keep track of LJs that interest me. You may notice that my "friends" page is called "People I read", not "Friends". If I friend someone, it's because I'm interested in reading their journal, not necessarily because I think there's some deep personal connection. (There may be or may not be — one of the people on my friends list I'm married to, and several I know in person; others I've never met, but find interesting.)

As an introvert who struggles with depression, I'm constantly trying to balance my innate desire for solitude with a desire to make connections with people. When I come across someone's LJ that seems interesting, I'm likely to friend it and follow it for a bit to see how much we have in common.

If I unfriend you, it's not meant as a comment on you, your LJ, or the value of either of those. It's probably because I'm going through one of my periodic hermit-like phases and am not currently trying to keep up with the flood of incoming info. Don't take it personally.

I make no promises regarding the frequency or thoroughness with which I read LJ, so if there's something you want me to know about, you'd better let me know directly instead of posting it in your LJ and expecting me to see it.

On comments: I agree with the “Living Room Doctrine.” I consider my LJ to be a virtual extension of my living space. As such, any comments that I would find threatening or offensive if said to me in person in my living room will be deleted. It’s fine to disagree with me (I allow that in my living room). Not fine is unbridled hostility, name calling, etc., either towards me or towards other commenters. No sock puppets — commenters who change their ID solely for the purpose of making a new comment seem like it is coming from a second commenter will have their comments deleted and their logins banned. Spam and off-topic comments will be removed. [wording copied from Learning the Lessons of Nixon]

Please note: I reserve the right to be as high-handed and dictatorial as I see fit to be when it comes to moderating comments and insisting on civil interactions.

Re: Frienditto.com and their ilk: I am not, nor will I ever be, a user of any service that defeats other journals' privacy filters.